TAGAYTAY HIGHLANDS INTERNATIONAL GOLF CLUB INCORPORATED vs. TAGAYTAY HIGHLANDS EMPLOYEES UNION-PGTWO [G.R. No. 142000.

January 22, 2003] CARPIO-MORALES, J.:

FACTS: The Tagaytay Highlands Employees Union (THEU)Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (PTGWO), Local Chapter No. 776, a legitimate labor organization said to represent majority of the rank-and-file employees of THIGCI, filed a petition for certification election before the DOLE Mediation-Arbitration Unit, Regional Branch No. IV. Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club Incorporated (THIGCI) opposed THEUs petition for certification election on the ground that the list of union members submitted by it was defective and fatally flawed as it included the names and signatures of supervisors, resigned, terminated and absent without leave (AWOL) employees, as well as employees of The Country Club, Inc., a corporation distinct and separate from THIGCI; and that out of the 192 signatories to the petition, only 71 were actual rank-and-file employees of THIGCI. THEU asserted that it had complied with all the requirements for valid affiliation and inclusion in the roster of legitimate labor organizations pursuant to DOLE Department Order No. 9, series of 1997,[5] on account of which it was duly granted a Certification of Affiliation by DOLE and that Section 5, Rule V of said Department Order provides that the legitimacy of its registration cannot be subject to collateral attack, and for as long as there is no final order of cancellation, it continues to enjoy the rights accorded to a legitimate organization. DOLE Med-Arbiter Anastacio Bactin ordered the holding of a certification election among the rank-and-file employees of THIGCI. According to him, the accompanying documents show that indeed petitioner union is a legitimate labor federation and its local/chapter was duly reported to this Office as one of its affiliate local/chapter. Its due reporting through the submission of all the requirements for registration of a local/chapter is a clear showing that it was already included in the roster of legitimate labor organizations in this Office pursuant to Department Order No. 9 Series of 1997 with all the legal right and personality to institute this instant petition. ISSUE: WON THEU local chapters legal personality may be assailed collaterally even though it has been issued a cert of registration HELD: NO. THEU, having been validly issued a certificate of registration, should be considered to have already acquired juridical personality which may not be assailed collaterally. The Court cited Progressive Development Corp. Pizza Hut v. Ledesma[20] which held that: The Labor Code requires that in organized and unorganized establishments, a petition for certification election must be filed by a legitimate labor organization. The acquisition of rights by any union or labor organization, particularly the right to file a petition for certification election, first and foremost, depends on whether or not the labor organization has attained the status of a legitimate labor organization.

However, even though the composition of the Union is challenged for carrying a mixture of rank-and-file and supervisory employees, for which it cannot posses any of the rights of a legitimate labor organization, including the right to file a petition for certification election for the purpose of collective bargaining, under Art 245, its legal personality cannot be subject to collateral attack. After having been issued a cert of registration, it has acquired a legal personality. Its personality may be questioned only in an independent petition for cancellation in accordance with the Art 239 (grounds for cancellation of union registration).